Why “social” is now “broadcast”

Amazon, Hulu, Netflix and now … Facebook.

Yes, the news is out that Facebook is the latest to solicit Hollywood and other sources for original “TV” programming for the binge-watching crowd.

This should not shock anyone. Video, both live and entertainment, is the future for all these platforms as they battle to become what the TV networks were to Americans in the late 20^th century.

While the over-the-top (OTT) providers like Amazon, Hulu, Netflix and others lead with programming first to generate community, the social channels lead with community first and now are following with programming.

Their primary sources will be:

• Entertainment-based programming: Everything you used to see on networks and cable you are now seeing on OTT and more and more on Facebook and Twitter. It will be interesting to see how Instagram and Snap follow, but they’re coming. There’s a more business-oriented play here for LinkedIn, but so far nothing yet.
• Sports: I’ve been talking about this among my sports-minded friends for a while now, but all these channels will pick up from where ESPN, Fox and others left off. That’s why all of the “sky is falling” stories about league and conference TV revenues drying up are only half of the story. The other half is Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and others writing even bigger checks for live-game content. In recent months Twitter has inked deals with women’s basketball and hockey leagues and added Conference USA football to its offerings. Look for the major sports leagues and conferences start carving even more content out for the social platforms in the near future.
• Gaming: A natural considering some of the demographics. While some “traditional” media like ESPN, Turner and others are already broadcasting e-sports and gaming events, the social and OTT platforms will marry the “sport” with its primary audience who are already the main audience of the social platforms.

All this marries with what we’ve been saying for a while. Social platforms are no longer social in the true social media sense. They are primarily content, promotional, advertising and broadcast platforms.

They are very much what television was in the 60’s through the 80’s. There are a half a dozen big platforms that built audiences in different ways and now have to provide programming to keep those audiences and make their share of the growing financial pie.